NIGERIA: Working to progress efforts to track authorised fishing vessels operating in West Africa, the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) convened a workshop on the Regional Record of Authorised Fishing Vessels (RRAFV) in Lagos, Nigeria last week.

SOUTH AFRICA: Inadequate fishing equipment, limited processing and storage infrastructure, insufficient access to funding, costly and lengthy licensing processes, poor road infrastructure, limited access to formal markets, uncertainty around fishing rights and land ownership, as well as complex regulatory requirements have all been identified as barriers currently facing rural fishing communities.

SOUTH AFRICA: The South African National Parks (SANParks) has recorded encouraging results in the latest African penguin census that shows a slight increase in breeding pairs at the Boulders colony in the Table Mountain National Park.

SOUTH AFRICA: Speaking at the Rural Oceans Economy Indaba 2026, Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Narend Singh confirmed that the long-awaited Oceans Economy Master Plan (OEMP) is nearing finalisation.

SOUTH AFRICA: Since South Africa's Government of National Unity took shape in 2024, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has cycled through three DA ministers in under two years, raising questions about continuity, governance and political priorities

SOUTH AFRICA: The country reached a new milestone in the development of the new LNG terminal in Richards Bay that aims to position the port as a key entry point for imported LNG and support the South Africa’s transition toward a diversified energy mix.

CAMEROON: Cameroon has launched a broad crackdown on fraudulent use of its national flag, striking 39 vessels from its ship registry and identifying a further 16 as flying the Cameroonian flag without any legal right to do so. Two websites fraudulently assigning Cameroonian registration to vessels have also been exposed and referred to national and international authorities for deactivation.

CABO VERDE: The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) initiated a needs assessment in Cabo Verde to support the future implementation of a Maritime Single Window (MSW) system in the Port of Mindelo.